It’s Monday morning, so that means it’s time to vote for the SB Nation New York Player of the Week. Last week, Joe McKnight took the honors for his 198 return yards against New England. This week, the New York Giants bounced back with a win against the Buffalo Bills, while on the ice, the New Jersey Devils and the New York Islanders both went 3-0 and the New York Rangers lost their only game of the week. Here are the new nominees. Vote now!
↵John Tavares: The Islanders were hoping for another Bryan Trottier, but what they’ve been getting this season is Wayne Gretzky. The young center netted a pair of goals with two assists in Thursday’s win over the Lightning, and he followed that up with a hat trick and an assist in leading his team to a win over the winless Rangers. Eight points in two games? Sounds like The Great One. This could be the year Tavares turns into a superstar.
↵Johan Hedberg: Yes, the Devils have a Hall of Famer in goal whenever Martin Brodeur is in the lineup, but the last year-plus, the team’s play doesn’t suffer when Hedberg is in the nets. In fact, they thrive whenever he plays, coincidence or not, as he has a 13-2-1 record in his last 16 decisions. This week, Hedberg allowed only two goals in the 4-2 win over Carolina, shut out the Kings for 45 minutes after relieving Brodeur and let in a measly two goals again in the victory over the Predators, and won two shootouts to boot. In the young season, he has a 1.41 GAA and .945 save percentage.
↵Ahmad Bradshaw: Finally, the Giants got their running game going. For most of the afternoon, Bradshaw was only gaining two yards here and three yards there, but they stuck with it, which set up the passing game. But their patience paid off as Bradshaw broke free for a 30-yard run on the final drive, which helped set up the winning field goal. Before that, Bradshaw scored three touchdowns (and was inches shy of a fourth). He rushed for a total of 104 yards, caught two passes for 26 yards and also threw in a handful of key blocks that paved the way for a few big passing plays.
↵Eli Manning: Another precise, surgeon-like outing for Manning, as he carved up the Buffalo defense, and spread the ball around to seven different receivers. More importantly, he didn’t make any mistakes or toss any interceptions. And oh yeah, he masterminded yet another fourth-quarter, game-winning drive. His final stats: 21-for-32 (65.6 percent), 292 yards, 94.8 QB rating.
↵Corey Webster: With Buffalo driving down field about to put the go-ahead points on the board with just over three minutes to play, Webster came up with a pick that not only saved the game but led to the winning points for the Giants. Yeah, he got faked out of his jock by Stevie Johnson on the Bills’ last touchdown, but Webster intercepted another pass earlier in the game and he also made five tackles and deflected a pass.